New Business Models

…and how musicians, labels and songwriters are compensated

Kristin Thomson

Sunday, August 19, 2012

How are musicians paid when their fans buy downloads on iTunes? How are songwriters paid when their music is played on Pandora? Since our founding, Future of Music Coalition has provided musicians, managers and labels with the in-the-trenches details about how performers, songwriters and labels are each compensated when their music is either streamed or downloaded on an array of music services.

Since 2007, we have organized this information into two documents: New Business Models and Digital Distribution and presented this information to thousands of musicians at events and conferences all over the country. These documents — as well as the 42 Revenue Streams list — are a tangible reflection of FMC’s mission; helping musicians and songwriters understand the mechanics of the emerging music/technology landscape, how they are compensated, and how they can participate in this marketplace.

In August 2012, we thoroughly scrubbed and updated both the Digital Distribution and New Business Models documents, adding in new services that have appeared in the past year. In each instance, we describe the service, and if and how labels, performers and songwriters are paid. We have also converted the New Business Models document to a Google spreadsheet, making it easier for musicians to access, and for us to update periodically.

Music and Money Quizzes. Ranging from “easy” to “expert”, these multiple choice quizzes are a fun way to test musicians’ knowledge of common uses of copyrights and sound recordings, and to give us – as advocates and educators – a way to identify concepts and realities that are the most confusing. Take a quiz today! Last updated June 2013. Quizzes

Music and how the money flows. These infographics illustrate how the money moves to performers, songwriters, record labels and publishers when music is digitally sold, webcast, or streamed via on-demand services. Last updated July 2013. Infographics

Digital Distribution infographic, which explains how independent and unsigned musicians can use services like CD Baby, TuneCore, ReverbNation Amazon’s Create Space to get their music into digital music services. Last updated September 2012.
Infographic | PDF

Watch the presentation (25 minutes in 4 parts) which looks at some examples of digital stores, subscription services, artist-to-fan connections, licensing, and new forms of radio and if/how performers are compensated. Last updated October 2009.

Got a correction? Do you see something that needs to be added or deleted on any of these materials? Contact kevin [at] futureofmusic [dot] org (subject: Comment%20on%20New%20Business%20Models) and we’re happy to fix it.